Alliances & Technology Transfer

A Japanese bank has joined forces with a major South Korean counterpart to help usher smaller Japanese companies into Asian markets, in the first such collaboration by financial institutions from the two countries.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will set up a joint venture with Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. and invest a total of ¥64.8 billion ($600 million) in Didi and the new venture, as part of efforts to expand its business in China.

German automaker BMW and Chinese online gaming giant Tencent Holdings are teaming up to launch a computing center in China that will help develop self-driving cars in the world’s biggest auto market, the companies said on Friday.

Japan's JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy will tie up with a Vietnamese state-owned oil company on liquefied natural gas, the companies said Monday, with the duo expected to build facilities and collaborate on procurement in the Southeast Asian country.

Toyota Motor and its group companies intend to invest 28.3 trillion rupiah ($2 billion) in Indonesia from 2019 to 2023, including spending to launch production of electrified cars, Nikkei has learned.

Five more Japanese automakers look to participate in an effort to develop next-generation transportation services led by Toyota Motor and SoftBank Group, uniting much of the country's auto industry in the pursuit.

Japan's government and companies including Mizuho Bank and Suzuki Motor will set up a 15 billion yen ($140 million) fund to invest in over 100 startups in India.

Japan, the U.S. and Australia have picked a liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea as their first case for joint financing in the Indo-Pacific region, planning to lend over $1 billion, Nikkei has learned.

Mitsubishi Electric and Yaskawa Electric are among 100 major Japanese manufacturers set to share production data with each other to improve efficiency, using blockchain technology to ensure their information remains secure, Nikkei has learned.

Japanese oil and gas company Inpex is set to agree in principle with the Indonesian government to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Indonesia, Nikkei learned Friday.